A debut so early into his career is the last thing that recruit Kyle Langford expected after joining the club three months ago.

The young forward was taken with pick No.17 in the 2014 National Draft and has quickly impressed coaches his hard working attitude visible both on and off the field.

Working closely with forward coaches Nathan Bassett and Matthew Lloyd, Langford has worked hard for his opportunity on the field – something that he is not taking lightly.

“If you asked me at the start of the pre-season, I would have never thought that I would have got this opportunity,” said Langford

“So to get it, I’ll take it with two hands,”

“Hopefully I can play well and get a good score up on the board and hopefully get up there for a few senior games during the year.”

In his three months at the club, Langford believes that he has built up a firm grasp on the Essendon game plan and is confident that he will be able to execute it strongly come Saturday.

However, the youngster still has some nerves surrounding his first game of AFL football believing that the contest will be nothing short of ‘relentless’.

“There's no doubt it’s going to be a lot faster than what I’ve ever experienced,”

“I’m expecting a tough game.”